Discharge apparatus for coal charging hoppers



SepLBO, 1952 c v; MOCABE 2,612,299

' DISCHARGE APPARATUS FOR COAL CHARGING HOPPERS Filed May 5, 1950 x 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 A I \I\8 FlEii I 4 I I 9 2 l H a /0 2 6 [01 I l 21 i0 h wenimc' 0/5572? V. M545 Sept. 30, 1952 C v MccABE 2,612,299

DISCHARGE APPARATUS FOR COAL CHARGING HOFPERS Filed May 5, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Sept. 30, 1952 UN 1 i DISCHARGE If: [E J CHARGING HOPPERS Chester v MclGabe prownrPointpIndl; assignor 2 to-United.State's Steel Company-a corporation" Application-'May5, 1950, Serial No. 160364.

This invention relatesmto coalchargipgiiicars and more particularly to:anaimproved discharges apparatus for the hoppers of:'cokefiovenxtcoalw' charging cars;

fed into the ovens.

The rotary table formed1the -bottomroheach.1 hopper but was detached-therefrom iHZOIdCI -YtOII permit it to be rotated. Since: the rotary;,table-v;.1

could not abut the bottom'of.the- -hopper tow-aprovide a seal therefor, itwas necessarytoshang-g a belt of flexible material zfrom thebottom -edges of the hopper to preventspillage of coal froms. the opening betweenthe sidesyof:the-hoppersand the rotary table. Thissarrangement a,however did not prove entirely satisfactory sincei'the; bot-i tom edge of the belt veryaquicklygbecame-wornx: by the revolving table after installation and, con-" sequently, was ineffective asx-a -seal.. After; each coal charging operation itwas-necessary ,to sweep; up a considerable amounttof coal and coal dust;-

from the coke oven roof, This spillagegrequired-t additional labor to maintain favorable working conditions on the coke oven -t0ps..

If this spillagewere. permitted-towlie-rename top of the brickwork, it would actvas anlinsula-w tion to cause a hot spot. The hot-spot would: cause a spalling of the brick resultingqin a thin-1 ning of the b-rickwork-and-the;developmenti'of a weak spot which would bring about premature failure of the oven'roof.

The present invention is a further improvement on the apparatus disclosed "in'the copending application ofz-RichardiD; iwearnar Serial No. 140,403, filed January 25, 1950;?forfifDischarge Apparatus for Coal: charging Hopper.

It is an object of my invention to provide an v,

improved hopper construction'for coal charging cars wherein a rotary impel1e'r"having ,LribS Lon the top and bottomsidesthereof; is mounted internally within the hopper and sealed therein so as to render-the 'hoppenspillpro'of whilefi'coalv is being discharged therefrom-f This and other objects will:be more: apparent i aften. referring tothe followingspecificationfiand attached drawingsin which z a Figure 1 is a top plan View Of acO'aLchargingU carequipped with hoppers accordingito my in 1 ventionjz a V a a a Figure :2 "is a :sectionalnview through soney of' the hoppers looking down onthe' turntable ot-:the inventio'ng" 1 v t Figure? isla cross sectionaliview taken omthefi line III-"-I-II of Figure 2 rand Figure 4 is a view showing "a modification -of' f the-turntableof the invention; t

Referring more" particularly to the drawings'; reference .1 numeral 2 indicates -a 1 coal -charging car having four-coal: hoppers mounted there'- on. A downwardly directed discharge spout ii is mounted. on :the car zla'tera'lly adjacentithe. bottom of each of the hoppers :Aiw'ith its. entry end-.1 81 communicating rwith';the.,-intnior for; the hoppenin The: bottom: of; each hopper-21s zforme'diabyza c cular, plate l0; which :may :beinattachedetocithefi bottom: edge-of the;hopper.-wall;by suitable'z'means-zz such as a continuous :welda';\Thedischarge spoutr: 6 is bolted orzotherwise-fastened tonthe bottomtz of plate I 0 as: at l 2 to prevent coal-'=spi;1lage;at t;

thatpoint. v V g An opening. gl 4: is provided through :the'a centen of plate; I 0.: Anauppencouplingnhalf 1| 6;,-having a rounded hub portion l 8 {projecting frorm itS-z body: portion; 26 and. a square shaped stub shaft 1 extension 20 -proj acting from therirounded hub l8-,.--is mounted QIIIhEgbOttOIIl ,of hoppen.4 with; its hub =l8 fitted into the opening l4 Stubpshaft: 20 extends. above the bottom platen lll totsupport, a turntable 22;; a'vmg a square eholea 2 4l. through ;,the. center. thereof, adapted Ito .receive t the Stiib20'.'j Theholef 24"is' so "si zd'andfshaped .f thati'stilbl! Bffit'sf sn'uglythefrinJ-Q i The annular". body portion ZIii'Of Ico'upling; half I6 isprovi ded'"with a selies 0f bolt h fil'e'sli!83346.19; cent its periphery fw'hich accommodate bolts" '3 [i 1 whereby the upper coupling .half fl 6 is connected: with a. bottom coupling1191117321? The fl'bottom; coupling ha1f'32 is" keyed 011i a vertical shafti 34 0f ajgea'r unit 36.11. Thlshaftfffll isarotatfdfby means of a motor 38 and reducing'gearl Qth'rough a *worm' and worm wheel. 42i1an'd Ksuppbnted by;

thrust baring'sjfMf. Theitlirus't.be'aringslfldiarefr 0f the r0116? typB and Iaf su'ffiifilltlyi rugged-111: construction-"so as toI-enable, the :gear unitj3fi -tofl 1' carry. {all .of the weight. of the top andfbottom" t couplinghalves. l6 and a Z, ;'theturntablel-2 ZZZ-and;- the mad bf coalcarried bythe-turntableh This arrangement eliminates any. pressure on the bot r to'm'bf the hopper and any excess friction "result-.

. 31 v a ing therefrom which would necessitate increased power for rotating the turntable.

Figure 3, the turntableZZ is provided 'witha sealthe" hole 24. Thus, the turntable 22, being sup- 1 ,ing ring 46 welded to its underside surrounding imported byjjtl'i'e stub shaft' fll and riding clear-of? thebottoin plate I0, is carrying the entire "load;

of the coal in the hopper. i This load, transmitted through the upper and-lower coupling halves I6 w, and 32 is supported entirely by the geanunitjfiv The sealing ring 46 overlies'the' space between,- F the stub shaft 20 and the'opening I4 to prevent As seen in r the charging hol'esjjof the V leakage of coal through the opening l4 along th'eJ In order to insurethe rotation of turntable 22 in a horizontal plane, and to provide means of inserted between the sealing ring 46 and the bottom platelmasseeninFigure 3.

@The turntable 22 is provided with ribs to a- "adjustment for leveling the turntable in the event 1 bottom. plate It! becomes warped, shims '48 are jecting from the top surface thereof to impel the coal into the entry end 8of spout 6. Ribs 50 extend radially-fromthe edge of hole 2 1 to the edge of; the plate so as to impel the coal into the entry end.8;,of. the dischargespout 6 when the turntable ,islrotated'in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2. Ribs 52, corresponding:

to .the ribs,5fl,.are provided on-the underside of turntablejZZ so as to sweep out the coal that; accumulatesin, the clearance space" between the. turntable and the plate 10. I have found that if 1 means were not provided to sweep. out this coal,

ashort timewould interfere with its free. rotaitwonldpack under the rotating turntable and in 1 j ,side of the rounded hub l8 of coupling half lei In operation, coal is loaded into each of the i T r 7 2,612,299 iiifs'fz'ii x641 it;

hoppers in the conventional manner through an opening in its top. The charging car is then propelled along the coke. oven battery roof until the discharge spouts are positioned directly over 'll'en to be charged. Tire coke oven" is-thenc d by starting the motor 38which rotates the turntables 22 through L ear units 36 to impel the coal from the hoppers .to ,thedischarge spouts. 1 each hopper is completely sealed, there is no Since the bottom of rigoperation1 w While spillage or leakage of coal during the entire chargm otheradaptations and modifications may be made 1 of said turntabla said :bottomplate having an tion andthus create an overload which would causetheldrivingmotor to stall. Ribs 52 extend radially fromfthe outer periphery of the sealing,

ring 46 to the outer edge of turntable 22.

In-Figur'e 4 I have shown a modification of the turntableZZ'inwhieh the" upper ribs 56 and the.

lower ribs 52 are. positioned at an angleto the 1 radial This arrangem'ent' maybe preferred to insurec the coal beingswept into the discharge spout fibythe-sweeping actionof the ribs;

An annular seal 54 having an inside grooved portion;56 is welded-to thebottom side of plate [0 V with grooved portion-56 concentric with the opening-IL -A packing 58 of hemp or other suitable material is packed into-the groove 58. Seal 54 prevents fine'coal and'coal dust from leaking between hole lland the hub [8 of: coupling half I6. The diameter of the hub is only slightly lessf than the diameter of opening I 4 so that it fits snugly butis freely rotatable therein. The body and tapped holes 60. A split annular 'keep er; plate 62 is attached to the bottom side of seal 54'by means of cap screws eats hold thejpackingv 58 in place. v The cap screws fit intothe drilled and tapped holes 66., Keeper plate 62 is'made in two arcuate sections so that it may be easily removed'to replace packing 58 when necessary. I

'As seen in Figure 1, all four hopperfeeds'are driven in unison by a. single motor. The'reason for this arrangement is that the four hoppers v carry an 'exact charge for one coke oven which is-provided with four charging'holes. Thus, by driving'the four hopperfeeds in unison, the oven is chargedquickly and evenly. It will be noted thatthe number-of hoppers on the chargingcar may be Varied'in accordance with the design and j size of the coke ovens in the battery. Eachgear unit maybe connected to an individual motor if desired; 1 v

l .55 portion of' sealid is provided witha ring of drilled:

without departing from the scope of the following'claims.

I claim: I I 1. Ina charging-hopper for coke "ovens or the like having side walls and a bottom plate sealed theretoyand a discharge spout at one sidecornmunicating with the interior of the hopper, the

combination therewith of a turntable spaced slightly above said: plate, said turntable comprising a horizontal circular plate having a center opening therethrough, a plurality 'of' spaced projecting ribs'on both the upper and lower face opening therethrough' communicating with the center opening infsaid' turntable, a coupling including a separate upperand lower; section reniovably joined together, said coupling being disposedsubjacent saidbottoni plate with the upper section thereof proj ecting upwardly 1 through the opening in the'bottom plate to fit snugly'in the center opening of said turntable, driving means connected to the lower section'of said. j coupling for rotating the same,roller type thrust bearings for supportingthe coupling, the turntable and th'e load thereon,- a sealing ring disposed between said turntable" and said bottom plate overlying the space between the projecting portion ofs'aidfupper section and-the edge of the opening in said bottom plate; and a'seal extending around theupper section of said coupling and mounted *on the underside of said'bottom plate'ove'rlying the's 'p'ace between said upper sec- [wheel disposed circumferentially around said shaft, a worm in engagement with said worm wheel, and motor meansfonrotatingl said worm.

CHES ER v. Moorin a REFERENCES CITED 2 The following references are of record in the fileof this, patentz.

V MUNITEYDYSTATESJ PATENTS Number? i Name v a V, Date 479,637 1 Everett Ju1 .i2e,'.1s92 ,713491; 1 Allen Nov; 11, 1902 1,0 ,231; Keith July 1, 1913 1,992,061ij; Fahnestock Feb. 16, 1935 2,134,664 Heitshu' Octf25, 1938 2,351,293 Saunders June"13, 1944 one'ernbodirnent of my invention has been 7 shown and described, it will be apparent that 

